COP21 in Paris: India vows to reduce carbon dioxide emission

New Delhi also said it will create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.Urmi A Goswami | ET Bureau | October 02, 2015, 13:52 IST

NEW DELHI: In its climate action plan submitted to the UN climate secretariat late night on Thursday, the third informal deadline, India said it would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide it produces for every dollar of economic out put or gross domestic product (GDP) by 33% to 35% from its 2005 level by 2030. Continuing with its ambitious clean energy programme, New Delhi said that by 2030, 40% of the total installed power generation capacity would be from non-fossil fuel sources.

New Delhi also said it will create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

While India has not made its targets conditional on international financial support, it made it clear that its efforts to increase the non-fossil fuel energy portfolio will be achieved with the help of transfer of technology and low cost international finance including from Green Climate Fund”. New Delhi has provided preliminary estimates of the cost of its climate change action between 2015 and 2030. India would require at least $2.5 trillion (at 2014-15 prices).

The 38-page document on India’s climate action plan or intended nationally determined contrbution (INDC) details India’s efforts to date, particularly the measures it has taken to meet its voluntary pledge made at Copenhagen/Cancun to reduce the emission intensity of the economy by 20% to 25% from its 2005 levels by 2020.

To achieve its targets it has set, New Delhi will “enhance” its existing policies, and launch new initiatives in the priority areas. The climate plan lists out a broad outline of these interventions—giving a sense of New Delhi’s efforts to move to what Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar recently described as a “lower carbon development pathway”. India has consistently maintained that while its renewable energy capacities would increase, coal would continue to be the main source of energy, at least for the near future. To this end, it has committed to introducing “new, more efficient and cleaner technologies” in thermal power generation.

Last year India set a target of adding175GW of renewable energy capacity—100GW of solar, and the remaining chiefly from wind—by 2022. The INDC builds on this commitment—40% of total installed generation from non-fossil fuel sources, which would include nuclear and hydropower, by 2030. The attempt is to “increasing the share of alternative fuels in overall fuel mix.”

Energy efficiency, in which India has recorded significant success, will continue to a focus area. The focus will be on industry, building, and appliances. It also plans to reduce emissions from the transportation sector and waste.

Adapting to climate change is an important consideration for India. New Delhi has said it will launch initiatives to develop climate resilient infrastructure, as well as focus on efforts to “enhance climate resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change.” To meet its goal of increasing the carbon sink, India has said that will fully implement the Green India Mission and other programmes of afforestation.